Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair have always been considered two of wrestling’s biggest icons, especially when discussing the decade of the 1980s. Now, Hulk Hogan concedes and admits that in his mind, Ric Flair is the best of all time.
Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan are the pillars of two polar opposite philosophies in the world of professional wrestling. Ric Flair represents what many people feel is the roots of blood and guts pure wrestling. On the other side, Hulk Hogan represents the very idea of sports entertainment.
Since the 80s, Hogan and Flair have verbally sparred with one another about who the best of their respective era is, and in the 90s in both WWE and WCW, Flair and Hogan would repeatedly find themselves on the opposite sides of the squared circle. However, in 2010, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan briefly joined forces in TNA as members of Immortal.
Now, a week before Legends Night on Raw reunites Hogan and Flair inside the WWE ThunderDome, Hulk Hogan tells India Today that he considers Ric Flair a hero and calls him the greatest wrestler of all time.
“Well, you know, I will gracefully accept and acknowledge that compliment because it means so much, especially coming from my peers, to say that. The guy who is my hero, and who I think is the greatest wrestler of all time, that’s Ric Flair. So I do appreciate the comment but I have a different opinion about who is the best wrestler and the greatest of all time, I have to go with Flair. It’s in his blood he laid the groundwork. He raised the bar that no one has really been able to follow as far as work ethic.”
Previously, Triple H had compared a matchup between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns to that of the level of Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan. Hogan would comment on this comparison saying that today's Superstars can far exceed what he and Ric Flair did.
“I’m a little biased to both of those guys. Romans Reigns’ father Sika and his partner Afa, they pretty much put me on track when I was lost,” he continued. “I mean, my first run in WWE I left Florida and we met up and drove to the first TV and when we were up there they had been in the business quite a while so they groomed me and they helped me and kept me from making too many mistakes when you’re first in the business. I’ve got so much respect for the Samoan dynasty, and to understand how it peaked with The Rock, I see Roman Reigns taking it to a whole other level now. He’s solid, he’s consistent, he’s got the look and there are no holes in his work he’s really, really spot on. Then on the other hand I’ve watched Drew McIntyre, and the years of training and in-ring experience, now he’s as legit as they come. He’s got the eye of the tiger look in his eyes. He’s got the body of a god. His work is solid, everything he does is spot on. His interviews are good. So I think Triple H was right when he’s comparing those two guys having classic matches like the stuff Flair and I had. I think he’s spot on but I think they can take it to a whole other level.”
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